The NSW government is planning big changes to Uber and taxi regulations

The NSW government is planning to add more regulations to ride-sharing services such as UberX and raise the cost of compulsory third party insurance premiums.

The possible changes, expected to be announced later today by Better Regulation minister Victor Dominello , according to Fairfax, are aimed at creating a level playing field with taxis and hire cars.

There are several options under consideration, including: creating a new CTP class for ride-share vehicles, deregulating the area which would allow insurers to determine premiums based on risk, and bringing ride share vehicles into the same class as taxis and hire cars, while vehicle owners would be forced to declare their car to authorities if they’re using it for ride-sharing purposes.

Currently, traditional taxis pay a CTP premium of about $7000, roughly 10 times the cost for a private passenger vehicle. If the government went with the option of bringing all taxis, hire cars and ride share vehicles into the same category, it has the potential to bring a big reduction in premiums, which could potentially lower fares, but also reduce the competitive advantage for UberX drivers as their premiums soared.

The Baird government is also looking at a new levy for all taxis, hire cars and ride share cars based on the risks associated with where the car is hired from and at what time of the day.